Month: February 2017

Kojo Hyengshō Sanan (Kojo Railway Company) has announced plans to upgrade an important north-south railway axis, mostly parallel to the country’s largest river Kime, to four tracks. In the long term, this will enable the organisation to offer a proper IC service to its customers travelling to and from the capital via Kippa and on to Hetta in the south.

The railways parallel to the river form the nation’s infrastructural back bone, and the dedicated IC tracks on the northern section from Pyingshum Aku-Dyanchezi to Leshfyomi-sul are already operating at capacity. The route currently considered for upgrade runs on the easter side of the river in the north, with hourly CityConnect trains currently stopping at Sújoshí (42.000) and Kimaéchul (75.000) before the railway pulls into Kippa’s (1.820.000) central railway station. From there, the CC continues on to the west of the river, with the high-speed trains making a brief stop in Asaka (210.000) before arriving in Hetta (440.000) at the coast.

By adding a second set rail, dedicated to high-speed (starting from the outskirts of Pyingshum) the upgraded IC service will be able to relieve stress from the northern sections of similar IC routes – especially by adding an alternative route from Kippa to Pyingshum – while simultaneously enhancing access to the capital from Hetta and Asaka. The freed capacity on the old tracks will be used to offer a more diversified and comfortably clocked array of regional rail services, while also enabling extra freight slots and an alternative link in cases of emergency on the traditional high-speed route. Last but not least, the 4 daily IC E3 and 6 daily E4 trains per direction that run from Pyingshum to Kippa and on to Jaka during rush hour without intermediate stops will use this new section from Pyingshum to Kippa, to avoid the congestion on the old route. That will increase punctuality and reliability.